


One of Those Nights

by lizook12



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Future Fic, Office Party, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2013-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-13 13:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/824977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizook12/pseuds/lizook12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And, honestly, resisting for any longer than two weeks was a win in his book.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One of Those Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to andibeth82 for feedback and encouragement.

She’d pestered for the better part of four months until he gave in. Just a simple company party because their employees deserved it. On the surface there was nothing he really could object to; Stark industries compensated their employees well, but they _had_ put up with his erratic (though brilliant) leadership for years on end.  
    

Plus, there was the whole added danger of having Iron Man as an integral part of your work environment. Puts a bit of a target on your back, or, at the very least, the building you spend most of your day in.  
    

It was just... As much as he thrived on the energy of a crowd, their attention being focused on him, a party was different. There was no escaping after ten minutes to take the girl ( _his girl_ ) back to his room, no getting plastered and passing out in a fish tank to forget whatever he’d just spouted off in front thousands.  
    

But Pepper had been insistent. He figured it was because she’d known from the minute she’d brought it up that it was just a matter of time before he agreed and, honestly, resisting for any longer than two weeks was a win in his book.     
    

Still, he didn’t really consider two hundred people crammed at rental picnic tables strewn across Leo Carrillo State Park to be simple. They had limited the menu to cookout staples though: hamburgs, hot dogs, and fish tacos. And beer.  
  

Lots of beer.  
    

“...so that’s Petersen’s husband, who you _have_ alrea—.” She stops mid-step, foot turning in the sand as her gaze drifts over him. “God, I can’t take you anywhere.”  
     

“Hmm?”  
    

“I thought we were past the age where you needed a bib.” Handing him a napkin, she gestures to the small blob of ketchup on the collar of his shirt. “Or are we just headed back to that stage of development? I swear, I’m not pushing you in a wheelchair for the next fifty years...”  
    

“Please, I’d have that thing automated so quickly your head would spin.”  
    

She laughs, her hair blowing out in the brisk August air. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”  
    

“Hey, you said that was fun.”  
     

“Oh, it was.” A soft smile blossoms on her face as she takes the napkin from him, tosses it in the trash, and starts making her way through the crowd. “Just, next time, I get to be on top.”  
    

“Done.” He loops his arm around her waist, lets his fingers splay across her hip as they greet people still munching on their dinners.  
    

The sun is starting to fade, reflecting off the water as the caterers kindle the torches. The way the light plays across her features, dances in her eyes, catches him off guard and he inhales sharply, bites down on the inside of his lip, as a rush of heat that has nothing to do with warm night washes over him.  
    

“And who is this?”  
     

The question jars him from his thoughts, somehow intensifies the need to get her alone right now. He’s about to answer, his hand flexing in the curve of her waist, when he realizes the woman’s directed the question at Pepper.  
    

About him.  
    

He’s half mortified, half proud.  
    

“This is—”  
     

“The pool boy, Hector.”  
     

The corner of Pepper’s mouth twitches upward even as her eyes narrow. She’s fighting so hard to contain the laughter that she doesn’t realize he’s continued his explanation until two minutes later when she hears ‘helped pay may way through...’  
    

She can’t take it, she lets out a soft laugh, bumps her hip against his, and holds up a hand, halting his speech. “Gloria, this is Tony Stark."

The woman still looks puzzled so she explains, gives her the whole “genius, billionaire, philanthropist” speech.  
    

(She leaves out the “playboy” part though; it hasn’t applied since well before the ring was on her finger.)  
    

And then she can’t help herself, as she finishes explaining about Stark tower, she tips her head to the side, furrows her brow. “Really though, have you been living on Mars or somewhere that media doesn’t exist?”  
    

Not waiting for a reply, she begins moving through the crowd again, letting him subtly steer her toward the edge of the group. It’s been three hours since the party started and she could use some time just with him.  
    

“Well, it seems to be a raging success.” He laces their fingers together, pulls her past the line of torches creating the boundary between the barbecue and the rest of the park.  
    

“We might have to make it a yearly thing.”  
   

“It should have said ‘annual’ on the invitation then.”  
     

She grins, closes her eyes for a second as his thumb brushes over the back of her hand. There’s something in his choice of words, still teasing and yet completely accepting—encouraging—that fills her with warmth.  
    

Love.  
   

Her fingers twist in his, her side crashing into him as he abruptly stops, sand spraying across her feet.  
     

“So... I couldn’t let you have all the fun.”  
     

There’s not even time for her to question it, to let out the retort dancing on her lips, fireworks burst down the beach, out over the water. Leaning down, he grabs the bottle of Goose Watch Riesling-Gewurtztraminer (her favorite) and gestures to the lounge chair he’d hidden in the cove.  
    

“Always have to make a scene, don’t you?” Her tone is serious, but her smile widens and she leans against him as he pulls her into his lap.  
   

“Be real, this is as low key as we get.“ He kisses her temple and hands her a glass of wine before letting his arm fall across her shoulders. “Besides, no one is focused on us now.”  
    

“True.” Taking a drink, she turns in his embrace, kisses him softly. “I mean, we are pretty explosive.” Grinning, she carefully places their glasses next to the bottle on the ground, her hand slipping under the back of his shirt as his arms tighten around her and a red firework blossoms overhead.


End file.
